Ban: Sudan ambush unacceptable
2008-07-09 19:31
New York - Seven UN-AU peacekeepers were killed in Sudan's Darfur region in an attack condemned by UN chief Ban Ki-moon as "an unacceptable act," his spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Seven peacekeepers were killed and 22 were wounded, seven of them critically, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.
Ban, who is flying back from the G8 summit in Japan, "condemns in the strongest possible terms this unacceptable act of extreme violence against AU-UN peacekeepers in Darfur," she said.
The peacekeepers were attacked while returning from following up allegations by the Minni Minnawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, which signed a 2006 Darfur peace deal with the government, that two former rebels had been killed, according to UNAMID in Khartoum.
A UNAMID official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said suspected pro-government Janjaweed militiamen ambushed the convoy at Um Hakibah in North Darfur State, southwest of the peacekeeping mission's headquarters in El Fasher.
The UN secretary-general "calls on the Government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice," Montas said.
Ensure safety and integrity
Ban urged all parties "to respect their agreements, to double their efforts to ensure the safety and integrity of the peacekeeping force and reach a comprehensive settlement to the crisis in Darfur as soon as possible".
He reiterated his appeal to the international community to provide "all necessary support to the peacekeeping force in Darfur".
UNAMID deputy force commander Karenzi Karake went to assess the situation following the ambush.
Last month, Arab militiamen briefly abducted and assaulted a UNAMID official and three colleagues held at gunpoint during a stand-off near the main UNAMID military base in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.
In late May, dozens of heavily armed men on horseback ambushed a UNAMID patrol in Darfur and seized weapons from Nigerian troops near El Geneina, and in a separate incident a Ugandan policeman was found murdered in North Darfur.
Details of the latest attack emerged as visiting British Foreign Minister David Miliband said it was difficult to see future optimism in Darfur, which has been driven by conflict for more than five years.